Seto Kaiba, Savior?
by LilyIris
Summary: [Post Battle City, ignore EtSR, and before WtD] Pegasus? Who's Pegasus? Oh yes, that man from Duelist Kingdom that could read minds and all that junk. Remember him? No? Thought so. His company hasn't been doing so well lately, but all of that will change.
1. Prologue

Yursh, I'm back with a brand new story! Everyone cheer. XD This prologue's a bit short, not much of a beginning oo;; But I promise, it'll get _much_ better. I hope.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Get over it.

* * *

_I'm a failure._

Seto Kaiba glared out of the windows into the pouring rain. His image glared back at him. His life was in an absolute turmoil right now—half of his staff had quit in fear of what the newly-returned Pegasus would do to them, Mokuba had been cooped up in his room, terrified of the outside world, and of course, Yugi and gang of 'friends' would not stop bothering him about how the world was ending and how the planet's population's fate rested solely on his shoulders.

Kaiba sighed and rested his forehead against the smooth surface of the glass. Glancing down from his 20th floor office, he noticed not a single person was bustling around in the once-busy city of Domino. Of course…how predictable. It's been like this ever since that freak show that claimed to read minds had come back to power. Stores were boarded up, people were being dragged away as prisoners, and there was a nasty rumor that they were murdered in a secret far-away place for unknown reasons.

Turning away from the dismal sight below, Kaiba sat down in front of his computer, trying to concentrate on his work. It was no use; he couldn't think straight right now. He stood back up again and walked to his shelf of books. Kaiba scanned the book titles, brushing his fingers against the spine of each book before selecting an old one he had found a few years ago at a rather dismal looking bookshop. He usually didn't bother going into any bookshops at all—it was much faster to find something online and have it shipped to his mansion or to his office here at KaibaCorp, but something about the shop he had found it in had caught his eye.


	2. Chapter 1

1st chapter up - Review please!**  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or 7-11 or Starbucks.  
**

* * *

: (Flashback, one year ago, Kaiba's POV) :

_What am I doing? I come out to get a coffee and to get away from the office for just a few minutes, and I'm shopping for books now. What's wrong with me?_

I walked down the city sidewalk, plastic coffee cup in one hand, trench coat in the other. It was a warm day in spring, and I had taken off my coat only after a few minutes out. I tried to ignore the gawking stares of the city's tourists and civilians. Was it _that_ uncommon for a CEO to be striding down the street?

After a few moments of pondering, I decided yes, maybe it was.

I turned the corner onto yet another street full of shops. I gazed idly at each shop as I walked by: A clothing store, a 7-11, another clothing store, a _children's_ clothing store, a Starbucks, and yet _another_ clothing store. How many existed on this one street anyway?

One can only see so many frilly pink display windows before one got tired. This was the case with me right now I guess. I turned to cross the street and to head back to an office, then another store caught my eye. It was a bookshop, and its signs and posters weren't as loud and blatant as the other shops around it.

Curious, I wondered what such a small and resigned-looking store was doing in this district of expensive designer clothing shops. I crossed the street and walked a bit closer to read the store sign: Jo's and Kham's Books of the Nations.

_What an odd name…_

Another sign, a smaller one, hung in the display window. Instead of the usual greeting of "_Yes, we're open!"_ or "_OPEN!", _it read, _"Come on in…enjoy what you find…and be warned as well_."

I checked my watch. Only thirty minutes past noon…and what the heck? I was the CEO of one of the biggest businesses in the world; No one's going to yell at me for coming back a few moments late from my lunch break.

I pushed the door of the store open. I was greeted by the overwhelming smell of old books, new books, and another curious scent (was that mint?). I paused in the doorway, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the dimly lit place, blinking a few times.

: (Normal POV) :

"Seto Kaiba," came a voice from the blue-eyed individual's right. It wasn't a question, rather a statement, as if the owner of the voice had been expecting the duelist.

Said male turned to find a young teen looking up at him. She couldn't have been more than 15 years old. Wonderful. Another shrimp for him to deal with. Not that she was exactly _short_, but she was shorter than him, and anyone shorter than his 6 feet some inches was considered a shrimp in his book.

"What?" Kaiba asked snappishly, already regretting walking into the store.

The young girl pushed her mid-back length black hair out of her chocolate-brown eyes and gazed back at him reprovingly. In comparison to the other storekeepers and their employees who all wore Chanel or Prada or whatever, this girl dressed rather plainly in regular blue jeans, black boots, and a black tank. The only accessory was her neck buckle, which had a mini duel card hanging off of it. It bore an uncanny likeness to his own locket, but Kaiba dismissed this fact because after all, his own locket's outside _did_ look like a duel card.

Ignoring his question, the girl asked him, "May I help you with anything?"

The shrimp was _talking_ to him—as if she were the same status as he was. Him! Seto Kaiba, top duelist, CEO of KaibaCorp, being talked to as if he were a _commoner._

"Just looking," Kaiba replied shortly.

He turned his back on the girl and wandered off to the back of the store, as far away as he could get from her. Unbeknownst to him, the girl half-smiled and murmured softly to herself, "Merry we meet, Seto Kaiba, merry we part, and merry meet again." She turned and disappeared behind the curtain leading into the main office.

\/\/\/\/\/

Kaiba wasn't really paying attention to where he was going; only stopping every once in a while to pick up books with interesting-looking covers, but put them down again without perusing them carefully. He had the gut feeling that there had to be _some_ good books in here…he just had to find them.

His feet brought him to the section called labeled "**ANCIENT FINDS**." He was immediately wary of what he would be finding here. After all the psychos he'd encountered over the past year or so, he wasn't so sure he wanted to read more about ancient fun facts.

Before he knew what he was doing, his hand had reached out to grasp a dusty book with a spine at least 3 inches wide. The blue-eyed teen blew the dust off of the cover to see the words, "**The Only Pharaoh In My Eyes**" embossed in articulate gold swirlings. A pair of mysterious honey-brown eyes stared up at him from the cover. The eyes…Kaiba had seen a shade just like them somewhere before, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

His eyes flickered back to the cover, scanning the title critically.

_Pharaoh_?

How was it that anything and everything that even-shorter-shrimp-than-the-girl-at-the-front-counter preached about seemed to follow him everywhere?

He paused, not sure if he wanted to open up the book anymore. Again, his fingers moved without him commanding him to, and he flipped open to the title page. Holy--! This book was written almost a century ago!

"That's a very interesting book," came another voice.

The young CEO jerked his head up to find another teen looking serenely at him. She had black hair as well, but it was tied up high in a ponytail. Her eyes, a lighter shade of brown than the other girl's, were framed by oval shaped glasses. She was wearing relatively plain clothes as well, dark purple flare plants, with the exception of the blazing red Japanese word 'Darkness' shining out on her black tube top. And she was shorter than him. Lovely.

"I'm sure it is," Kaiba replied evenly, trying to shove the book back into its original place on the shelf.

"No, no, I _insist_ you read that book," the girl said, pushing it back at him.

"But--"

"No buts. Take it. If you're not satisfied, return the book and get your money back. But _read it first_." Under her breath, she muttered, "Stubborn pig…"

"I don't want--"

"_Take it_," she said firmly with a glare this time.

Kaiba glared back at her, but surprisingly, he did as she said and walked back to the front desk where the other girl had greeted him.

She took the book from him, glanced at the title, then breathed, "Ah…"

"What?" Kaiba snapped.

"I wonder…" she murmured, not answering his question.

Annoyed at this whole 'mysterious' pretense the two employees were under, he shoved the money at her, took the book, and stalked back out into the blinding sunlight.


	3. Chapter 2

-sobs bogus tears- 100+ views already! MWAH, MWAH!

(This chapter explains the past a bit...should clear a few things up)

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Yu-Gi-Oh.**

* * *

:(At the bookshop, still in flashback) :

Delightedly, the girl that Seto Kaiba had first encountered in the shop held her hand, palm up, to the other girl. "Cough it up, I won the bet!"

The other girl, Kham, grinned and rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you weren't serious when you made that bet."

The first girl, Jo, snorted and replied, "Pfft, yeah right. You _knew_ I was dead serious. Pay up!"

Kham laughed and said, "Yeah, yeah, okay, I'm taking my lunch break now, make sure you don't burn anything down alright?" She ducked out the front door before Jo could make any more demands for the bet money.

Yes, indeed, these two girls _were_ the owners of the shop, though it seemed as though they were too young to be. Both were smarter than other girls their age and had managed to be accepted at the most prestigious high school in Domino, Japan, where they had met. Both had graduated with top marks.

Jo, bored with the regular city life, decided to travel abroad for a year, while Kham stayed behind and participated in every duel tournament she deemed important enough to grace her presence with.

Due to a horrible sickness that kept her bed-ridden for weeks a few months ago, she had been forced to decline her invitation for the Battle City Tournament. Kham could be heard ranting for days that if she had been on that stupid blimp, she could've beaten _anyone's_butt, including the CEO that had just walked out of the store.

Jo, on the other hand, didn't duel at all, but knew enough basics to keep up with Kham when she was in one of her all-mighty-duelist modes.

After traveling around for some time, stopping at fascinating places such as Egypt, where Jo almost got lost more than once in the tombs, she had decided to come home, ready to pretend to be a regular teenager for a bit.

That hardly proved to be entertaining, as both Kham and Jo didn't go to school, seeing as they had already graduated. One day, when Kham was wandering down the streets of downtown Domino, where there were too many designer clothing shops for her taste, she came up with the idea of opening a bookshop just because she could and because Jo was constantly complaining about the surplus of books she had obtained during her traveling.

For a while, they were happy with this little shop. Though they didn't really have many customers, the shop was always just a comfortable place to hang around. Everything had a monotonous way to it: eat, work, and sleep.

Then everything changed.

The day had started out normally enough, with the occasional customer wandering in, then wandering back out, and around 6 PM, when the sun was setting, Jo and Kham were just closing the shop.

Glancing around once more around the shop to make sure everything was in order for tomorrow, the two girls got ready to leave the shop and walk their separate ways.

"Greetings, ladies."

Both turned around to see a tan-skinned man wearing a turban and a robe that seemed more of a wrap than anything.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed now," Jo smiled apologetically at him.

"I am aware of that," the man continued in a low, unemotional voice.

"Can we help you with anything then?" Kham asked.

The man acted as though he hadn't heard. "A few months from now, on exactly the 18th day of the 11th month, the Tall One shall enter this shop. Be aware, he does not know what he will find here, but it is your duty to make sure he leaves with _the book_."

"…what?" Kham asked skeptically. Really, she had no patience for wackos like him.

"Tall One?" Jo echoed.

The turbaned man repeated his prophecy, and suddenly, he was gone. Not there. Poof. Gone with a swish of his cloak.

"What was that all about?" Jo asked, turning to Kham.

"Who knows? Probably some person trying to get attention."

"Then how'd he disappear like that?"

Kham shrugged. "Whatever, probably some weird magic trick he learned on TV. Look, it's getting late, we should get going now."

Jo nodded, still puzzled at what the turban man had said.

After that, the two had basically forgotten what had happened that day, and it stayed like that until a few months later, when Jo was reading some manga or another and happened to look up and see Seto Kaiba standing outside of their shop. And he was very tall indeed.


	4. Chapter 3

December is heeeeeeere! My birthday is today! Gimme a nice b-day present and review pwease?

Oh, and just as a heads-up. Yami Bakura did NOT steal Pegasus's Sennen Eye after the Duelist Kingdom saga….Waddya mean he did? Of course he didn't!…No, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about… YES I DO!…Waddya mean _why_? 'CAUSE I SAID SO!

**Disclaimer: Don't own, just read the story.**

* * *

: (Flashback mode, one month later) :

"Girls, girls!" a girly, yet deep voice trilled.

Kham and Jo, who had been conversing of whether Kuriboh really deserved to be a duel monster or not due to its near-uselessness, looked up to see a silver-haired man beaming at them.

"Er…yes?" Kham asked cautiously.

"Would you like to help me find an extremely _gorgeous_ book to add to my collection? Kham and Jo?" he added, glancing to their shirts to find their nametags.

Problem was, neither of them wore those stupid index-card rectangles. They were rather pointless and stupid, and shoppers really didn't have to know your name to be able to make a purchase.

"How'd you know our names?" Jo asked suspiciously.

The eye that wasn't covered by his long, silvery hair darted from Jo's face to Kham's face, then back again. "Why, you told me just as I came in!"

"No, I'm pretty sure we didn't," Kham said firmly.

'This man is weird…he's not right…something's wrong with this guy…' Jo thought uneasily.

"No, no, dear, I assure you, I'm perfectly sane and as kind as the next person!" the man laughed happily, carelessly waving his hand around.

Jo raised an eyebrow. Did he just answer her _thoughts_?

The impeccably dressed man seemed to have a very bad cold suddenly. He sneezed many times in a row—too loudly and too obnoxiously to be valid, in Kham's opinion.

"Excuse me," the man said thickly, fishing around in his pocket for a handkerchief. He blew his nose several times before saying, "I'll just find a book for myself, thanks," before practically sprinting to the back of the shop.

Kham turned to Jo, her eyebrows having risen up so high, they were in danger of disappearing in her hair. "What was _that_ all about?" they wondered aloud at the same time.

\/\/\/\/

The silver-haired man, who was none other than the one and only Pegasus J. Crawford, prowled behind the bookshelves, eavesdropping on the two girls' conversation—not that he needed to; he could read their minds easier than blinking his eye, but he absorbed much more information from hearing their thoughts _and_ listening to the talking.

However, the two girls' voices were fading away to a dull murmur. They had probably retreated to the back room, away from him. This didn't stop them from knowing what they were thinking, but the conversation would be nice too.

Scowling slightly, he turned and his uncovered eye zoned in on a thick book with brown binding. He reached forward and tugged it out of the bookshelf, reading the title aloud. "**The Only Pharaoh in My Eyes**."

The muttering buzz stopped immediately.

Suddenly, a string of profanities clouded the two girls' minds, harsher than the talk of sailors. One thought in particular, Jo's, stood out to Pegasus especially: "NO! He can't have that!"

Almost immediately, she bustled forward from the backroom to where Pegasus was standing stationary, concentrating hard on the two girls' thoughts.

"I'm sorry, you can't have that, it's on hold for someone," Jo lied, thinking of the first excuse in her mind, trying to tug the book from his hands.

"Oh really, my dear girl?" Pegasus asked, almost sweetly, still holding on to the book quite firmly. "It wasn't under your counter, as all held books should be."

"The customer only placed the order a few moments ago, I didn't get a chance to take it out yet," Jo said hurriedly.

"Really?" Pegasus questioned.

It was quite obvious that he didn't believe a word she was saying.

"Yes, that's right," Jo nodded vigorously.

A pause. Then… "Alright then. As you cannot be of further service to me anymore, I shall take my leave then." Without another word, the man turned and walked out of the door without a speck of cheerfulness he had displayed just a few moments ago, but with every intention of coming back after hours to steal the book.

"That was a close one," Kham muttered to Jo, coming up behind her and watching the man's retreating back.

"I'm so stupid!" Jo kept muttering over and over again. "I can't believe I forgot I had another copy on the shelves! I'm so stupid!"

"No harm done at least," Kham stated, eyeing the book a bit apprehensively. "He didn't get the book, and there's no chance he'll break into KaibaCorp or Kaiba's mansion to steal it. Just…lock it away or something."

"I guess…" Jo agreed, making up her mind to have it stowed away at Domino City National Bank.

: (End flashback) :

Seto Kaiba had sat down at the couch next to his bookshelf. He wasn't so undignified as to curl up like other people, but he wasn't sitting stiffly as he did at meetings either. He leaned back, the book unopened in his lap, staring at the front cover as he did a few months ago, lost in thought of that old bookshop.

Those two girls…how old were they? 17? 18? Nah…time couldn't have passed that quickly. They were probably only 16. Kaiba blinked twice and backtracked a bit. Was it only a year ago he had gotten this book? That meant…Pegasus had come back into power just a little less than that amount of time after Kaiba had visited the bookshop.

Kaiba sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He felt so…old all of a sudden. Ever since the Happy Bunny fanatic had decided to make contact with society again, things were beyond different.

Well, that was to be expected of course. It wasn't every day you see a 40- or 50-something-year-old man with shiny silver hair jumping up and clicking his heels at you then announcing he now owned Domino City.

Book still unopened in his lap, Kaiba glanced up at the clock. 4 PM. Time to go home then. He stood up, clutching the book to himself as he did so, and grabbed his briefcase. Striding out of the office, he noticed that most employees had already gone for the day.

He didn't really blame them; they must have wanted to get home safely to their families as quickly as possible and without any mishap. He almost laughed as he thought of what he might've thought if his employees were gone before 5 if this had been just a year ago. He probably would've fired them or something.

Giving a shake of his head –this was no time for humor!— he stepped into the elevator, its doors sliding smoothly closed behind him.

* * *

-skips around- It's December! It's cold…but Christmas is coming soon! COOKIES! SUGAR PLUM FAIRIES! GINGER BREAD MEN! HAPPYHAPPYHAPPY!

-cough- Review please and I'll get off of my sugar high.


	5. Chapter 4

Whee Happy Belated New Year!

Disclaimer: Don't own, never will.

* * *

The dull elevator music played from an invisible speaker somewhere above him. Making a mental note to have the music changed sometime, Seto Kaiba arrived at the lobby of Kaiba Corp. It was a rather impressive place with glistening marble tiles and comfortable leather sofas scattered artfully near the main entrance. 

The three receptionists, the last of the few people still here, looked up simultaneously and said monotonously, "Have a good day, Mr. Kaiba."

With a curt nod, Kaiba walked briskly out of the front doors. His limo was already waiting for him, as always. He stepped into the car without a word. The chauffer tipped his hat at his decade-younger boss and drove towards the Kaiba mansion, no questions asked.

"Wait a moment," Kaiba said slowly.

The chauffer slowed down a bit and glanced at him from the rearview mirror. "Yes, Mr. Kaiba?"

"I…I don't feel like going home just yet." Scrawling down the address of the bookstore he had gone in a few months ago onto a piece of paper, he handed it to his driver. "Make a detour there."

The chauffer stared down at the paper, a bit amazed that the CEO didn't want to rush home on a rainy day like this.

"Sir--"

"Drive," Kaiba said sternly.

"Yes, sir."

Kaiba leaned backwards in his seat, watching the scenery as it flashed by. He didn't exactly know why he wanted to go see the shop. The idea had just…popped into his mind. A part of him wanted to go to see if the girls had any answers to the Pegasus fiasco, but the other part of him said that this idea was stupid.

"Wait--never mind, we're going home."

"Very good, sir," the chauffer said, looking for a place to U-turn.

"No, scratch that, we're still going to the store."

"Yes, sir," the driver replied meekly.

Kaiba shook his head. Had he lost it? Arguing with himself aloud? And in front of a member of his _staff_?

"Sir?" The chauffer had caught Kaiba shaking his head.

"Just go."

"Very well, sir."

\/\/\/\/\/

A short while later, the limousine pulled up in front of the store. Rolling down his window, the azure-eyed teen noticed the big 'SORRY, WE'RE CLOSED' sign. With a sigh, he rolled the window back up. 

"They're closed…drive home," Kaiba ordered.

"Yes, sir."

/\/\/\/\/\

Kaiba opened the door of his mansion, greeted by bright lights and the delicious aromas of dinner.

"_NII-SAMA!_"

Looking around, he saw his little brother, Mokuba, come barreling down the stairs and collide with him head-on, wrapping him in a tight hug around his legs, the highest he could reach.

"Hello to you too, Mokuba," Kaiba grinned slightly.

"It was _scary_ without you at home…how come you're so late anyways?" the raven-haired boy asked, releasing his brother, wide-eyed and looking up at his _nii-sama_.

"I'm not that late Mokuba, relax."

Before the boy could pester him with any more questions, a plump and grandmotherly-looking figure, the cook, appeared. "Dinner is ready, Mr. Kaiba."

"Thank you, Isabel. Come, Mokuba. Tell me about your day," Kaiba beckoned imperiously.

The two brothers seated themselves at the dining room table, facing each other and with a mountain-load of food between them. There were mashed potatoes, chicken, _ebi tempura_, _yakitori_, dumplings, fried rice, shrimp cocktails, and other delicious dishes.

Bemused, Kaiba looked up at the cook, who had escorted the brothers to the table.

"What's the reason for this feast, Isabel?"

"Well, you see Mr. Kaiba--" the elderly cook began to reply, but Mokuba cut her off.

"We've got visitors, _nii-sama!_"

"Oh? Visitors?" Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Where are they?"

"Uhm…I guess I'll go get them," Mokuba answered, suddenly remembering that he had ditched them somewhere in the mansion when he had heard his brother's limo pull into the driveway.

"No need, we're here already," answered a voice.

All parties present glanced up to see the two teenage girls from the bookstore Kaiba had gone to earlier.

"What're you doing here?" were the first words that shot out of Kaiba's mouth.

"Rude, are you?" jibed the girl with the glasses, Kham.

"Excuse me, I'll be as rude as I wish in my house, thank you," sneered Kaiba back.

"Not when we have information to tell you," shot Kham back. "_Important_ info."

"None of your information interests me," Kaiba lied. It seemed kind of ironic how he had just gone to see these girls, and they weren't there because they were…well, here. But he wasn't going to give in this easily—he had his Kaiba pride.

"Yeah, okay, you pompous, blown-up, ego-inflated bast—"

Isabel cleared her throat loudly and nodded pointedly at Mokuba. Jo, the other girl, shook her head in amusement. Mokuba was following the conversation between Kham and his brother like he would watch a tennis match, wide-eyed and his mouth opened in a slight 'O' shape.

"Sorry," Kham muttered sullenly.

Kaiba smirked, as if he had been the one to subdue the girl.

"Oh shut it," Kham snarled.

With an anime sweat drop, Jo fingered her neck buckle with the mini duel card hanging off of it and said, "Kaiba, she's right. We _do _have information."

"Oh fine," the CEO snapped. With flapping motions of his hands, he beckoned for the girls to sit down at the dinner table with him and his brother.

"Ha, I thought so," Kham grinned, and immediately reached for the _ebi tempura_, dunking it into the soy sauce so that it was almost blackened.

"Whatever," Kaiba growled back.

"Call me if you need anything, Mister Kaiba, Master Kaiba, guests," Isabel said, bowing out of the dining room.

After a few moments of silence only punctured by the clatter of knives and forks and chopsticks and Mokuba's noisy swallowing, Kaiba decided that it was time the guests explained themselves. Clearing his throat, he set down his fork and knife and looked pointedly at Jo and said, "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't call security right now and have them throw you out."

"…you've got to be joking, Kaiba. We've already started eating and _now_ you bring that up?" Jo rolled her eyes.

Ignoring her comment, he asked, "Well? Why are you here?"

"Kaiba, be patient will you?" Taking another bite of her dumpling, she beckoned to the nearly invisible butler in the corner, motioning him forward.

"Yes ma'am?" he asked, bowing slightly.

She whispered brief instructions in his ear. He nodded, then announced, "I will be right back."

Jo turned back to her food. Seriously, she _had_ to get some cooking lessons from that Isabel. She could cook food fit for the gods. After spooning another dollop of mashed potatoes into her mouth, she looked up to find Kaiba still semi-glaring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I still don't understand why you're here. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't take to ordering my servants around."

"_Patience_, Seto Kaiba. Learn some _patience_."

With a snort, Kham looked up and said, "You're one to lecture Jo; you're beyond impatient yourself."

"Shut up," Jo retaliated, but she was grinning when she said it.

Just now, the butler returned with a remote control on a silver platter. "Here you are, madam."

"Thank you," Jo replied, taking the remote off the platter. With a raised eyebrow at Kaiba, she asked, "Does all of your staff usually give you things on silver platters?"

The glare was enough to tell Jo that she should probably stop pestering the guy and answer his questions.

"Alright, alright…sheesh…" she muttered.

Pressing the top button of the remote control, Pegasus suddenly materialized directly in front of the table. "Hello Kaiba boys."

* * *

-twitch- Fear the gay-ness XX;; Review please 


End file.
